枕詞

Japanese

Kanji in this term
枕	詞
まくら Grade: S	ことば Grade: 6
kun'yomi

Alternative forms

• 枕言葉

Etymology

Compound of 枕 (makura, “pillow”) +‎ 詞 (kotoba, “word”). The pillow meaning is in reference to the way that makura kotoba in poetry are used as introductions to something else.

Noun

枕(まくら)詞(ことば) • (makura kotoba) 

1. (poetry) an epithet, specifically a poetic device where a certain introductory phrase is commonly used to allude to something else, traditionally used in 和歌 (waka, “traditional Japanese poetry”)

   Over time, certain makura kotoba may become full metonyms to replace the term they originally only alluded to, such as the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese phrase 庭つ鳥 (niwa tsu tori) or "garden bird" replacing the older term 鶏 (kake) to mean "chicken", as in the modern Japanese term 鶏 (niwatori). An example of such a makura kotoba:

   711–712, Kojiki, poem 2:

   [...]　爾波都登理(にはつとり)　迦祁波那久(かけはなく)　[...] [Man'yōgana]

   [...]　庭(には)つ鳥(とり)　鶏(かけ)は鳴(な)く　[...] [Modern spelling]

   ...niwa tsu tori, kake wa naku...

   ...the garden bird, the chicken clucks...

2. (by extension) introductory words
3. (literal) a pillow talk

   Synonyms: 寝物語 (nemonogatari), 枕物語 (makura monogatari)

Related terms

• 歌(うた)枕(まくら) (uta makura): a poem pillow
• 掛(かけ)詞(ことば) (kake kotoba): a pun or play on words

See also

• Category:Makurakotoba